A Little Advice For a Family New to MT? (Billings: house, buying)

[SeaDreams]

Lived in Montana (but west side) for over 30 years myself, and also had to go looking for Fishtrap. And jimj - that really brought me home again when you said we judge travel by time, not miles! Took some getting used to when I moved to Denver and folks kept talking miles!

[grizzfan]

SeaDreams said:

had to go looking for Fishtrap

Fishtail my friend, Fishtail! I was born and raised in Montana, not to far from there and never heard of it!!!

[mtboy]

Fishtail/Nye.... in the Absarokee/Red Lodge/ Columbus area....c'mon it is the enterance to the Stillwater Mine. One of the few Platinum Mines in the world, and probably the richest company in Montana. With Platinum being round $1000 an once or something rediculous like that (maybe even more). Ha ha but I know there is alot of places in Montana that no one has heard of. I just grew up in the area so that is why it is surprising no one has heard it.

[SeaDreams]

Oops - sorry! Had Fishtrap on my mind because I'd been to Fishtrap Lake in the Lolo National Forest a couple times years ago.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by jimj

Please be sure to check back in here around next March and let us know how it's been going for you, I'm interested to see what you think then. Just as a heads up,Commuting here is not judged by miles it's judged by time since a 15mile trip could take you 11 minutes in the summer and 45 minutes in the winter if you can do it at all in the winter.

Funny thing about that... when I lived in MT (Great Falls and Bozeman areas), I never ever not once heard a drive described by time. Distance was ALWAYS given in miles, followed by a qualification as to how much of the drive was dirt road. As to time, you just assumed a mile a minute, and doubled for unpaved or winter conditions.

I was initially confused by California distances, which are ALWAYS given in time, never miles. Someone would tell me "half an hour to.." and I'd say "Yes, but how far??" and they never had any idea that I wanted miles, like I was used to in MT!!

I suspect the distance = time thing must have contaged to MT, not been born there.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by mtboy

Fishtail/Nye.... in the Absarokee/Red Lodge/ Columbus area....c'mon it is the enterance to the Stillwater Mine. One of the few Platinum Mines in the world, and probably the richest company in Montana. With Platinum being round $1000 an once or something rediculous like that (maybe even more). Ha ha but I know there is alot of places in Montana that no one has heard of. I just grew up in the area so that is why it is surprising no one has heard it.

Strange Facts and Useless Information, that only a Labrador historian would know: once upon a time there was a Field Champion Labrador by name Frances Fishtail, owned by Richard Hecker. Those lines also show up in Labs that came from Ennis, so I think it's a fairly good bet we're all in the same Fishtail here.

[Reziac]

And not just gloves. If you're outdoors when it's below zero, you want MITTS (preferably water-resistant and impervious to snow -- I always liked leather lined with sheepskin, as they're both warm and durable). Gloves won't cut it. You wear gloves INSIDE the mitts, and take off just the mitt if you need to use your fingers.

[rickers]

Wait a minute did I hear someone say fishtrap lake ? Shussshhhhhh That's my secret fishing spot ! Don't walk on the floating islands ! It's 40 feet deep under those floating meadows !
Fishtail is not listed on City-Datas list of Montana towns !

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Funny thing about that... when I lived in MT (Great Falls and Bozeman areas), I never ever not once heard a drive described by time. Distance was ALWAYS given in miles, followed by a qualification as to how much of the drive was dirt road. As to time, you just assumed a mile a minute, and doubled for unpaved or winter conditions.

I was initially confused by California distances, which are ALWAYS given in time, never miles. Someone would tell me "half an hour to.." and I'd say "Yes, but how far??" and they never had any idea that I wanted miles, like I was used to in MT!!

I suspect the distance = time thing must have contaged to MT, not been born there.

I wonder if that's an eastside thing. Everywhere we've gone so far we've been told time instead of miles...

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by jimj

I wonder if that's an eastside thing. Everywhere we've gone so far we've been told time instead of miles...

Nope, I always described distances in miles as well.